The structural analysis of a levan produced by Streptococcus salivarius SS2 by chemical and instrumental analysis

Over the past several decades polysaccharide structure analysis has become increasingly important in understanding the behavior of polysaccharides in nature. Many polysaccharides serve as a source of food storage in plants and animals as well as a means of structural support. Oligosaccharides play a role in the antigenic behavior of certain macromolecules. The work presented in this thesis establishes the structure of a water-soluble levan produced by the enzyme levansucrase which was isolated from Streptococcus salivarius SS2. The production of the levan is believed to serve as a source of food for the bacteria that flourish in the mouth. The structure was determined through various chemical and instrumental methods. Spectroscopic techniques developed for small organic molecules were evaluated as methods to obtain information about the solution conformation of the levan and other similar polysaccharides. These spectroscopic methods can provide additional information about branch sites and terminal fructofuranosyl units in levans. Hopefully, the work presented in this thesis, in conjunction with other studies, will be used as general techniques in the analyses of polysaccharide structure.